Strickland vs Costa

Who won Strickland vs Costa?

Sean Strickland beat Paulo Costa by split decision in their 5 round contest during the co-main event of UFC 302, on Saturday 1st June 2024 at Prudential Center in Newark.

The scorecards were announced as 49-46, 50-45, 49-46 in favor of the winner Sean Strickland.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

Strickland vs Costa stats

Sean Strickland stepped into the octagon with a record of 28 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Paulo Costa made his way to the cage with a record of 14 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Sean Strickland's 23rd fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2014. Paulo Costa marked his 10th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2017.

Sean Strickland's UFC record stood at 16-7-0, while Paulo Costa's came in at 6-4-0.

The stats suggested Costa had a massive power advantage over Strickland, boasting a 79% knock out percentage over Strickland's 39%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Strickland had a slight advantage over Costa, with a 14% submission rate over Costa's 7%.

Sean Strickland was the older man by 1 year, at 34 years old.

Strickland had a 4-inch reach advantage.

Strickland was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 17 more fights, and made his debut in 2008, 3 years and 11 months earlier than Costa, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 63 more professional rounds, 99 to Costa's 36.

Strickland vs Costa form

Paulo Costa had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 on 17th February 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Honda Center, Anaheim, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41 on 23rd October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had been defeated by Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 on 26th September 2020 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

He had beaten Yoel Romero at UFC 241 on 17th August 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Honda Center, Anaheim, United States.

Activity check

Costa's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 7 months and 13 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

What time did Strickland vs Costa start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 3:40 AM UTC , which was 11:40 PM EST or 8:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 4:40 AM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Strickland vs Costa?

Sean Strickland was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Paulo Costa made his way into the ring at 2/1 (+200) with oddsmakers.